


We Survive Like Women

by sparkleofhope



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Hatake Kakashi-centric, Self-Insert, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25616098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparkleofhope/pseuds/sparkleofhope
Summary: "Remember this, Kurenai-chan." my mother, all sugar and honey, who I had never seen glare once, much less fight, looked like the fiercest human being in the Elemental Nations when she told me: "The opposite of we die like men is we survive like women." SI-OC Insert as Kurenai Yuhi
Comments: 49
Kudos: 171





	1. Chapter 1

_"It's a most distressing affliction to have a sentimental heart and a skeptical mind." - Naguib Mahfouz_

* * *

Kurenai wasn't supposed to be Kurenai.

I know you are confused. Perfectly understandable. So am I, to be honest.

Allow me to explain.

Picture a factory. A huge one that goes on for miles. Different products are made in it. Some important, some trivial. Some cater to quirky individuals, others satisfy snobs. Some are quality, others not so much.

Imagine you are one of the products. A product that doesn't have a fanbase. A product people look at and think If only it was this way or did [insert things here] I would have bought it then. It would have been my favourite. So much wasted potential. You are a product who is lucky to make it to the shelves.

When you do, people rarely take notice of you. And if they somehow do it...they are anything but impressed. You are a product who's pretty to look at, though. Some would even go as far as to call you beautiful.

But you don't amount to much in the end.

Kurenai Yuhi is that product.

Or better said, she used to be. I'm certain that someone up there just made a huge mistake.

I wasn't supposed to get involved in a shounen anime/manga. I wasn't supposed to be the replacement of that product's initial core. I should have died, period. And yet, here I am.

Still confused?

Yeah, me too.

Whatever imbecile had thought making me Kurenai Yuhi was a good idea clearly hadn't done his homework.

I am lazy.

Now, I know how that sounds. Lazy is the go-to word many teenagers use to labell themselves as. But I?

I am the worst case of laziness. Just ask my mother. She'd love to tell you all about it.

So yeah, whatever omnipotent being had thought "hey, let's make Alicia Rosewood Kurenai Yuhi" would be a good idea clearly didn't hear ex-mom complain.

Forget boring products who rarely get taken off the shelf. I will end up in a dusty corner of the factory. Making an already overlooked character even more overlooked takes some serious skill.

Or in my case, no skill at all.

I can almost hear you guys thinking. 'People would kill to be in your shoes. You have to get off your ass and change the plot, do something important, kick butt and become great.'

Yeah...no.

Just imagining the amount of blood, sweat and tears those feats would require is enough to give me a headache.

And to push me into taking another nap.

* * *

If my new mother was content to let me sleep and do little else (the irony didn't fail on me), my father was a different story.

"Kurenai-chan." he called out, trying to get me out of bed. By now, it had become a ritual.

My reaction?

I rolled over, looked him straight in the eyes, eyes similar to my own, and replied.

"No."

Then I resumed my favorite position and prayed the man would just get the hint already. I considered playing the role of a retarded daughter, mirror the way Lucius "Brutus" had faked his own so, he could escape the king's rage.

His stunt was one of the biggest 'fuck yous' the Ancient World had ever seen. Not only did he manage to fool everyone, but he eventually overthrew the king and founded the Roman Republic, becoming one of its consuls.

I was lazy, not ambitious, though. Besides, you had to join the shinobi ranks to become Hokage. Ancient Rome, before it became an empire, required its consuls (two men who co-ruled together) to be schoolars, to be persuasive and smart. You could have lived your entire life without picking up a sword. No one cared.

And because there are things to be learned from history...I don't understand why the Hokage is picked based on brawn and not on brains. Not that any of the Hokages were stupid. I get the importance of having a strong political figure, a shiny weapon to be dangled in front of the other ninja villages.

But isn't that what the jinchuuriki are for? If people focused on their mental health, on training them properly, on EXPLAINING what resides inside them instead of letting the poor kids find out on their own and risk having a tailed beast on the loose...I believe the world would be a better place.

Then again, the world Kishi had built wasn't meant to be logical or good. It was supposed to be flawed and horryfying, to make you root for the underdogs, to make you care for Naruto and Sasuke and Lee and Neji and Obito and Kakashi.

I know many people have complained about Naruto's talk-no-jutsu and how unrealistic it is.

I beg to disagree.

Let us rewind time a little and allow history to give us another lesson. Think about all the important figures who have changed the world in some way or another. Think about the hundreds of admirers and followers they had.

Barack Obama, Princess Diana, Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King probably come to mind.

They were/are people's persons. Empathy, compassion, carisma...the ability to make you believe in them and in what they are saying...

That's their super-power. That's what made them great, what made them inspire others. The speeches they held...

"It's unrealistic that a person like Naruto exists in the ninja world."

Exceptions are a thing. And I assure you, just like there was only one Dalai Lama...

There is only one Uzumaki Naruto.

He is smarter than people give him credit for, too. So, even if I were ambitious enough, or reborn as Sasuke or as someone else who could challenge Naruto for the position...

I wouldn't.

I do pray he gets one hell of an adviser, though. Politics are a different kind of battlefield entirely.

My plan was simple, really. Avoid the Ninja Academy, if I could. If not, become a genin and stay one. I'd sit back and watch Naruto achieve his dream; maybe even treat him to ramen afterwards, who knows.

I would not, under any circumstances, get involved in that mess people called 'plot.'

"Come on, Kurenai-chan. Humor your tou-san a little." Shinku Yuhi, my father, lamented, pulling me back to the present.

My eye twitched.

Doesn't he have genin and chunin to train?

Like, you know, people who actually want to do something with their lives? For a grown man and seasoned shinobi, Shinku was behaving like a child who didn't get his way.

"Fake tears." I said flatly, not really impressed by his performance.

"She got you there, Anata." My mother, Keiko Yuhi, spoke up from her place on the doorway. "Let the poor child sleep."

Tou-san whipped his head around to face her. "Poor child?" his eye twitched. Aa, that's where I get it from. "All she does is sleep!" he exclaimed, indignant.

His teatrics didn't work on kaa-san either. "Yeah, well, she is only two." she put her hands on her hips. "What did you expect?"

"I expected a little more love."

It took me every shred of self-control I had not to snort.

Can he get any more dramatic?

I looked between the two of them and sighed.

"Tou-san."

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Hug. I wanna a hug."

I kid you not. He shed real tears this time, holding me like I was the most precious thing in the world.

My eyes stung, kaa-san smiled and I decided being reborn in a fictional world wasn't so bad.

* * *

I'm three years old when Obito and his mother visit us. I shouldn't be shocked. Kurenai had been part of his generation, after all. I suppose it was wishful thinking, believing that I'd be able to avoid him and the rest.

Doesn't mean I'm not gonna try, though.

"Kurenai-chan will break many hearts, Keiko. I can see it." Obito's mother winked and gushed. "Three year olds aren't supposed to be this beautiful!"

"My daughter has only one love and it is sleep. I don't see that changing any time soon so, I will agree with you." Kaa-san smiled and ran her fingers through my hair. "She is. Thank you for your kind words, Ayano."

The woman waved a hand in dismissal. "I call'em like I see them. How have you been?"

"Good, I can't complain. Kurenai-chan was such a quiet baby." Keiko frowned, deep in thought. "She never really cried, come to think of it. I'd wake up sometimes to check on her, make sure she was still breathing."

"Lucky." she commented. "Obito-kun keeps me on my toes. I can't take my eyes off him without something happening." she told her meaningfully, eyeying the boy in question.

A sigh escaped my mother's lips.

"I wish Kurenai-chan would cause trouble sometimes. She is just so mature for her age."

Uchiha Ayano shrugged.

"Maybe she feels like she has to behave in your presence. Let her around other children and see what happens."

Obito chose that exact moment to pull at my sleeve. "Let's play." he demanded with all the authority of a toddler.

"Play by yourself." I retorted.

Keiko's eyes widened as she scolded me. "Kurenai-chan! That wasn't very nice."

My flat response "Wasn't trying to." prompted her to sweatdrop.

"See what I mean?" she asked her friend.

The Uchiha woman looked at me for a long moment before taking a sip from her cup of tea.

"Did she...witness anything that could have possibly traumatized her?"

Kaa-san shook her head negatively, visibly troubled.

"Not that I know of, no."

Obito made a sad face.

"Don't wanna play."

Then he started crying so loudly you'd think I had just murdered his pet or something equally terrible. My mother gave me a stern look while Ayano picked up her son, trying to comfort him.

Despite my better judgement, I spoke.

"Obito."

He sniffed, face pressed into his mother's neck. Damn him for being so adorable and...harmless. That's what struck me the most.

"What, meanie?"

I sighed. Guess I just earned a nickname.

"I will play with you."

His crying ceased, just like that. He stared at me with big, puffy red eyes.

"Really?"

It should be illegal to sound that hopeful.

I surpressed a groan.

The last thing I needed was to get involved with Obito, the guy who'd go on to become the perfect victim for Madara to sink his fangs into. I didn't want a future villain as my friend. I didn't want to suffer the loss of someone who I already knew to be doomed.

Well, it's not like playing with him this one time would help develop a bond of that sort...right?

"Yes."

* * *

My plan to stay as far away from the plot as possible got squashed like a bug. It occurred to me, as I watched a younger Hiashi Hyuga walk the streets...that I couldn't just sit on my ass and have the plot turn out the same.

Even small pebbles cause ripples. There were so many things I didn't know about Kurenai. Had she saved anyone important during her time as genin, chunin and jonin? Were the missions she got sent on crucial for the well-being of Konohagakure?

I had no clue. What I did know, however...was the role Kurenai had played in Hinata's life. She also taught Team 8...

Those were all important things to consider; things that I should have thought of earlier.

In hindsight, the solution seemed simple enough. Follow the little script you have. Get off your ass, become a ninja, survive until adulthood, take Hinata under your wing, become Team 8's jonin sensei and don't get them killed.

I could get behind all of them. They were...reasonable. Kurenai's relationship with Asuma was something else, however. I had no moral (or plot) obligations in regards to that. Besides, who Kurenai had been and who she was now courtesy of my rebirth were two very different persons. The probability of Asuma developing feelings for this version of Kurenai were slim. In any case, I wouldn't be dating anyone.

Death followed shinobi around much like a second shadow would. I refused to willingly sign myself up for heartache. Or be the reason why somebody else did. So, there was that.

"Kure-chan." Obito's childlike voice brought me back to the present. "Will you become a ninja?"

He might as well have asked me if I would be giving up my freedom, selling my soul and giving my life for the village.

I looked at him, at the way innocence seemed to have made a permanent home out of the Uchiha's eyes. An illusion. Those eyes would bring havoc and destruction in the future. They were destined to kill.

I knew that. I had watched Obito unleash Ten Tails and start a war.

It was hard to reconcile the two, the masked-man and the chibi wearing goggles. I wanted to shake Obito by the shoulders and suggest another career path, something that would take him far away from bloodshed and the cruelty of witnessing your best friend kill the love of your life.

I stayed silent. The Uchiha were born soldiers. It was in their blood. Nothing I said would stop Obito. If anything, it might only encourage him further.

The thought of killing him had also crossed my mind. We could go to a lake. I'd push him into the water. He'd drown and no one would be the wiser.

"Friends don't leave each other alone." Obito declared all of a sudden, grinning. "Let's be ninja together, Kure-chan!"

My eyes widened.

I felt like scum.

The end justifies the means. True. I couldn't agree more. But, nothing would justify me drowning a three-year-old boy who looked at me as though I was his favorite person in the world.

"Hai. Let's do our best, ne, Obito?"

The young Uchiha flashed me a brilliant smile that showed all of his teeth. He hugged me tightly. It was the first time I actually acknowledged him and accepted the friendship he had so graciously offered.

Before I knew it, I was neck-deep in the plot with no intention of getting out whatsoever.


	2. Chapter 2

_"Sometimes, I feel the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there's no room for the present at all." - Evelyn Waugh_

* * *

The Naruto universe is more trouble than worth.

Read that. Then read it again.

Everything is nice and dandy when you watch the anime behind a screen. Character deaths make you shed a few tears, you cheer when needed and you curse the villains, some of which you later grow to love...

It's a harmless way of escapism from life's daily struggles, a way to pass the time and make your depression more...bearable. I know, I have been there. Living here, however, is something else entirely.

First of all, snotty brats actually run around throwing pointy objects. By the time they enter the Academy, most children have a good grasp on dodging.

It's needed to survive.

And yes, much to my chagrin, I was emotionally blackmailed into being friends with one of those snotty brats. Enter Uchiha Obito, the worst headache I have ever had and possibly the most adorable one, too.

"Oi, Kure-chan! My kunai made a hole through that old man's hat and...he is coming towards me. GAAAHHH, PLEASE SAVE ME."

 _Why is he like this._ I deadpanned, letting Obito manhandle me into resembling a human shield.

"You do know that's our Hokage, right?" I arched a brow.

The young Uchiha yelped, eyes wide. "No way. He is like....older than dirt."

Before I could have said something back, Hiruzen beat me to it. "And more than capable of hearing you, Uchiha-kun."

Nonetheless to say, Obito turned very pale.

"Aahhh, I'm so sorry sir, for the hat and..."

He was rambling and shaking like a bunny.

"For insulting you." I whispered and gave him an encouraging nudge.

Obito repeated the words then bowed so low I feared he'd fall on his face.

The Professor laughed, his wrinkles becoming more promenient. He ruffled Obito's hair. "Consider it forgiven and forgotten." the Hokage took his hand and returned the kunai. "Be more careful next time."

To say our encounter with him left a bitter taste inside my mouth would be an underestatement. I blamed him for many things, perhaps not all of them justified. Regardless, seeing Hiruzen was the perfect reminder of how Konoha nin could smile friendly at you then order your assassination later.

On that front, the other shinobi villages were better. I would have rather lived in a pit of honest vipers than surrounded by wolves disguised as sheep.

A sigh escaped me.

The Uchiha Massacre would come to pass no matter how I felt. There was no point in deluding myself. A hero cape was heavier than any crown.

I did not need the extra weight.

"We just met...the Hokage." Obito's voice tore through my musings. The awe in his eyes sickened me.

There was nothing to admire.

"Do me a favor, will you?"

Like a switch, he snapped out of it and regarded me suspiciously.

"What favor?"

I titled my head to the side.

"Grow-up and become a better Hokage than Lord Third."

Obito's cheeks reddened. He blinked at me, opening his mouth and closing it a few times.

"You really think I can?"

Truth be told, I didn't. Knowing the future made it impossible for me to believe in anything that strayed from the plot, despite my own paradoxal involvement.

However, I had no qualms about challenging fate since it saw fit to challenge _me,_ first.

"I do."

Hell hath no fury like a lazy woman who's not allowed to be lazy. Let the fun begin.

* * *

The Ninja Academy was... _different_. I ought to not have been so surprised. The Second Shinobi War had ended right before my rebirth. There was so much tension left in the air still. The possibility of a The Third Shinobi War cast a dark shadow over Konohagakure...

The past version of the Academy was significantly harsher. The village looked and felt more threatening. Also, something the anime forgot to mention about Kurenai...

She is...I am, chakra sensitive.

In my past life, I was always aware of danger coming my way. My gut instinct had saved me more times than I cared to count. I felt people's energies. Whenever I ignored that and listened to my brain, bad things happened. It went deeper than that, too...I had avoided cars, street dogs, rapists and cable wires. It was severe pneumonia which had cut my life short.

Diseases I could not avoid, diseases I could not dodge or run away from. Anything else was fair game, though. Whether Kurenai had been chakra sensitive in the original version or I had carried this trait with me throughout lifetimes...it didn't matter.

I would be using it to my advantage. God knew I needed some.

My class had no clan children other than Asuma and Obito. Kakashi, of course, was a special case.

Everyone knew of Sakumo Hatake. Everyone was also badmouthing him as of late. I didn't hear much because the adults never talked openly in my presence. I often wondered what my parents thought of him, but didn't dare bring up the subject.

Anko called dibs on me from the second I had stepped foot inside the classroom, saying something about how us girls should stick together. She was fun to have around, very studious.

Her memory was terrifying, too. I could see why Orochimaru had chosen her. Anko had guts, even at this age. An inner fire of sorts I couldn't help but admire. She didn't shy away from pestering our sensei with questions...and bothering our classmates with pranks.

We fit. She had the energy and spunk I lacked, while I had the diplomacy and level-headedness. Anko pushed me into doing stuff...I stopped her from doing stuff.

It was a wonderful friendship indeed.

Naturally, Obito got jealous.

So, even more naturally, I ended up taking the middle seat, bribing Genma with a kiss on the cheek. Anko and Obito became rivals during school time and partners in crime outside of it.

If asked, they'd swear there was no friendship.

It occurred to me one Sunday afternoon that...Obito had yet to approach Rin. Did that mean something? Surely he'd take an interest in her later...

_Wait, if he never does..._

All that crap with tailed beasts and the war could be avoided? The Uchiha Massacre, Minato and Kushina dying...

A plan was beginning to form in my head. A plan I wasn't proud of, but...if it ensured the survival of so many people, I'd be feeling no guilt whatsoever.

Social schemes were a walk in the park compared to ninja feats. It was much easier to play Cupidon than it was to pull a Naruto and fight my way thoughout everything. All I had to do was push Obito towards Anko.

And Kakashi towards Rin.

Easy enough, right?

I rubbed my hands together slyly. Smart work was my favourite type of work. I could have easily been born into the Nara clan, come to think of it.

Oh well, maybe in my next life...

_Yeah, no. The hell I'm going through all of this for a second time._

Now, who to approach first?

Hardest to sway?

Kakashi, definitely Kakashi.

Easiest?

Rin.

Mostly because Rin _already_ liked Kakashi. Though what she saw in him...

Kakashi the twenty-year-old something I could understand. He was eye-candy and easy-going, trolling people seemingly without a care in the world. But the monosyllabic, stuck-up version?

Where was the appeal in that?

Thank God for puberty because none of the guys looked good at this point in time. They were weird, scrawny and high on sugar.

Or stupidity. Sometimes both.

Honestly now, our class was the craziest bunch. The stunts some of them pulled (mostly Anko, though Obito was a close second) were as funny as they were dangerous.

And Matsuri-sensei was insane.

The batshit insane type. Not only was she a slave driver, but the woman enjoyed making us suffer...all in the name of 'Konoha's greater good.' More than once, I felt a burning urge to start quoting my world's Human Rights only to stop, remember where I ended up and bite my tongue.

The twenty-first century spirit inside me rebelled often, demanding justice whilist screaming about the unfairness of this fictional universe, all of it done internally, of course.

I wasn't stupid. That kind of behavior would land me in the interrogation torture chamber. Though to be fair, I'd probably cave before any attempted violence actually happened.

Ha, some shinobi I was.

My iq would most likely save me from exposing myself as an intruder to Konohagakure's officials. That didn't rule out the possibility of getting kidnapped and being tortured by _another_ shinobi village, though. Excruciating pain and other things I refused to think of aside, picturing the disaster that would come out of me leaking information...

Yeah, it was high time I started learning a genjutsu or two.

And maybe learn my way around bows and arrows?

Elusive, quick and deadly precise, it was the perfect combination. I'd be staying true to Kurenai's Genjutsu Mistress title _and_ add some spice to it.

"Whatcha thinking about, Kure-chan?" Obito shoved a finger into my ribcage and I nearly fell out of the chair.

My hands reached out to grab the wooden desk before I could be sent down the floor. Honestly, he was good practice. I understood what his mother had meant when she said he kept her on her toes.

"None of your business." I retorted.

From my left, Anko snickered.

"That's cold, Kurenai."

She was right, it was and I couldn't bring myself to care. This world demanded _cold-blooded killers._ My survival rate depended on how much I lived up to that labell.

"Warmth isn't my thing." I said instead and left the classroom.

* * *

Anko stared at her friend's back as she was walking away from them, itching to do _something._ Clearly, Kurenai wasn't like them, like her and Obito. She took things too seriously and slept so much you'd think she was a hundred years old. When the brunette wasn't napping, she was thinking.

How she still managed to train in between and move gracefully to the point she'd be easily mistaken for a ballerina, Anko didn't know.

What she did know was that her friend was upset.

She hated being upset or seeing other people upset. Life was fun. And dangerous, but it was best to focus on the fun side of things. Plenty of time to worry later. That's what she believed in, at least.

With her mind made up, Anko stood, ready to follow Kurenai only for the strangest thing to happen next. Obito's hand gripped her wrist tightly.

Murky green eyes narrowed. Why was he stopping her? Couldn't he see that the last thing a sad person needed was to be left alone?

"Don't." he demanded.

The sight of a serious Uchiha Obito left Anko stumped.

"Why not? She needs us to cheer her up and-"

He butted in, annoyingly persistant.

"No, she doesn't."

Anko glared hotly. "First of all, don't interrupt me. Second of all, what do you know about that?"

Did Obito hit his head during one of his many one-sided fights with Kakashi? He was being dumb!

"I know Kure-chan since we were three." he told her, eyes dark and sad. "She doesn't need people." he finally let go of her wrist.

The young Mitarashi was very confused.

"Everyone needs people, baka." she argued weakly.

Obito shook his head.

"Not Kure-chan." he replied and said not a word after that.

Anko decided that she didn't like a quiet partner in crime. Where was the fun in being loud and pranking people if Obito wasn't there to laugh with her?

An easy fix to the problem, she thought then, were the baka's goggles.

Anko stole them and climbed on top of the desk, giving Obito a cheeky smile.

"Bet you can't catch me and take those back!"

Just as she thought he would, the Uchiha got up instantly, pointing an accusing finger in her direction.

"Anko..." he warned.

She mirrored him.

"Crybaby."

Obito flushed deep red, indignant.

"Who are you calling a crybaby? I'm not one!" he protested.

Anko got in his face while making sure to keep the precious goggles at a safe distance.

"Are to!"

He screamed right back.

"Are NOT!"

She drew herself backwards.

"Catch me then!" and off she was, laughing the entire time as she ran.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Obito chased after her. Their game of cat and mouse lasted the entire break.

He had barelled into her, sending both of them rolling om the grass. Anko didn't like losing, so, she turned 'the fight' in her favour and pinned him down.

"Still upset?" she asked him.

Obito blinked up at her, his breath a little more shallow than normal.

"You did that so, I..."

Anko punched him.

"I don't know what you are talking about." she feigned ignorance, restless. "Just answer me. Are you still upset?"

He grinned, nursing an injured elbow courtesy of her mighty fist.

"No."

Anko nodded in satisfaction, releasing her hold over him. "Then you can have those back." she threw him the goggles. "Now move. Matsuri-sensei is going to kill us if we are late again."

Obito caught them easily and stood.

"Oi, Anko-chan." he called after her.

The sudden use of the affectionate suffix stunned her into silence. Obito had only ever addressed Kurenai with it. She stopped walking, curious to hear what he had to say.

"Arigatou."

Somewhere in the distance, unknown to the two children, stood the third member of their group, a small smile curling her lips upwards.

_My plan is coming along nicely._

Suddenly, three stomachs growled at the same time. Thankfully, she was too far away for the two to have heard her.

"Obito...this was our only lunch break, wasn't it?" Anko asked the boy.

He paled, rubbing the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. "Yeah, sorry about that."

It was his fault that they didn't eat.

Anko grinned and not for the first time, Obito thought her to be insane. What was so great about starving?

"I say we skip school and go eat somewhere nice."

They couldn't return to get their bento boxes without risking Matsuri-sensei's wrath. Okay so, maybe Anko-chan wasn't _that_ insane. Obito fully supported her idea. His stomach did so, too.

"Let's do it!"

* * *

A week later, Matsuri-sensei's corpse was found in a dark alley and things at the Academy were never the same afterwards.

A homocide inside Konoha's walls couldn't be overlooked and the Uchiha Police Force was working full time to discover what had happened that night. Why would someone kill an Academy instructor? Was it personal or...did they have a spy among them?

This felt like a scenario torn out of the   
noir filmes, the police-detective kind. In my past life, I had briefly considered becoming a homocide detective, just for the thrill solving mysteries gave me. I loved a good puzzle and the dark aspect of it made everything more interesting and mentally challenging. As previously stated, I suffered (still do) from acute laziness so, that had been obviously out of the question. I happily stuck to the Poirot and Sherlock Holmes novels in order to feed my ever active brain.

I had a sponge for it, or so my family and friends used to claim whenever I sprouted knowedge _out of my ass_ (my sister's words, not mine). Mom and I never saw eye to eye because of that. Don't get me wrong, she liked having a walking wikipedia for a child. The problem was what I chose to do with my brain's capacity.

She had high expectations, trying to make either a lawyer, a doctor, a bio-engineer or a business woman out of me. I refused them all. I got bored easily and my interests were all over the place. I enjoyed writing and wrote all the time. My mother, ever the opportunisit, saw in my passion another means of becoming famous and making money.

I didn't write for money. I wrote out of love, out of the love I had for words and elaborate metaphors, for writers whose pieces of art had brought me to tears, for the joy of having another mind, who had lived centuries ago, understand you better than your contemporaries did.

I wrote because I couldn't stop.

It'd be a cold day in hell before I let anyone, my mother included, stain that with deadlines, annoying editors, social pressure and so on. I became a History teacher because the two went together somehow. I lived among the dead more than the living and though that might sound sad to you, I was happy.

Dying took away my chance of falling in love with whatever Academia parts I had yet to discover. It took away my job as a university lecturer. One year had hardly been enough and I missed my students greatly...even the less brighter ones.

They chose knowledge over ignorance and that, for me, meant more than I could possibly put into words.

With a lone suffering sigh, I let my fingertips trace the figure of Princess Kaguya. To think the same sweet, noble girl I gazed at will return to end the Shinobi World...

Would she recognize herself if she were to look at these pictures? I wondered. Or was the difference between past and present so great that it hurt, a glaringly obvious thing that ate at her?

Suddenly, the door to our house burst open with such force that made the hair at the back of my neck stand out. There was no intruder, but something was wrong, I could just feel it. I shut the book, placing it back on the shelf before leaving my room and hiding behind one of the walls that separated the hallway from the dining area.

Shinku Yuuhi and my mother, who dropped whatever she had been making in the kitchen to join him, were facing each other now.

"What is it, Anata?"

I didn't know how to hide my chakra yet. My father either didn't care if I heard or he was simply too shaken to notice.

"Sakumo...he, he committed suicide, Keiko."  
  
It was the second tragedy of many to come.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

_"That's life. You travel the world over, aimless, friendless, adrift. Then suddenly you find another rodent who shares the sorrows of your juiced organs. I felt as though he had ironed out the wrinkled sheet of my heart." Azareen Van der Vliet Oolomi_

* * *

I used to sleep my problems away. Sometimes, I'd write them. As of late, kitchen ustensils had replaced my smartphone's keyboard.

Pizza and pasta were unheard of around here... _and_ Kakashi could use some help. The fact that he had reached adulthood the first time around without my meddling mattered little.

Just because he could, that didn't mean he _had_ to. Prodigy or not, he was five.

Besides, I had a plan to complete.

I stared at the onigiri in my hands. It was bland and simple, easy to make. Appearances could be deceiving, however. Thousands of little rice pieces had to merge for it to become the thing I was currently holding. Suddenly, I thought of Walt Whitman, a self-named walking contradiction, containing multitudes and wondered whether all human beings were condamned to such fate, to appearing less when they were more or, even worse, to showing all of themselves openly, attracting society's disdain.

I knew I was and there were times when Obito seemed much older than five. There was a depth to him the anime hadn't shown, but one that left me hoping, even if I knew I shouldn't.

Konoha was wrapped in silence. If I paid close attention, I could hear the crickets, the distant hiss of a stream and the way trees swayed courtesy of the wind. At night, I could pretend the village possessed no military status. Broad daylight was less merciful.

I waited for Kakashi to leave his home. For a future ninja, the schedule he kept to was predictable _(fine by me)._ Everything else was already complicated enough.

At last, the front door to a painfully large house opened. I caught but a brief glimpse of the orphaned boy: the silver hair which threatened to defy gravity and all its laws. The moon shone light on it and if there were tears underneath the hair, and the long eyelashes - also sliver - I pretended to not notice.

Kakashi took the rooftops and I lost sight of him in the darkness of the night. There were things to be said about quick people.

They were running from themselves.

I ducked my head, somber, before coming out of the bushes I had deemed as worthy hiding spots.

_Why don't you give him the food in person?_

I gritted my teeth, trying to ignore the internal voice that was too soft for the world I lived in. I set down the package, fingers brushing it for longer than neccesary before rushing towards the Shinku residence.

I would not fail both Obito and Kakashi.

* * *

I can see the medic in Rin long before it becomes her and she becomes it. Her eyes never fail to scan everyone after practice, be it weapon based, taijutsu or the most basic of ninjutsu, looking for cuts, bruises. There is an intensity that you would never associate with the girl, unless witnessed prior.

She is patient, eager to please and to learn. Friendly, optimistic, soft-spoken.

Rin is also stubborn, the Sakura stubborn kind, the Senju Tsunade 'I will heal you whether you like it or not' kind, the one every medic-nin seemed to have been gifted with at birth.

"I'm fine." I tell her to no avail whatsoever. She pulls at my arm a little more forcefully and because I'm a true believer in saving energy, I concede defeat.

She inspects the gash and frowns at the blood oozing from it. Had my knowledge of her character been lesser, I would have chalked it up to her being disgusted.

"If you don't care for wounds like these, they get infected." Rin pulled out her water bottle and poured some over my injury. Then, she took out a bandage from her kunai pouch, wrapping it around my arm tightly. "You don't want to lose your arm Kurenai-san, do you?"

I shook my head slowly.

"Of course not." a pause. "Thank you."

Rin beamed at me, going from full alpha medic-ninja mode to shy, little five year old. "Nothing to thank. Anyone could have done it."

True. I wasn't about to argue with her on that. I could have done it myself were I concerned about it.

"Not everyone cares to."

My retort had her blushing cutely again and I worried whether keeping Obito from liking her as more than a friend was nothing but wishful thinking. Rin was this generation's Hinata.

It was hard _not_ to like someone so amiable and almost angelic. Kakashi was an idiot if he didn't fall for her in this version of reality.

_Speaking of..._

"Ne, Rin-san...what do you think of Hatake-kun?"

Cue another tomato heavy blush. For a split moment I feared her resemblance to Hinata ran deeper than character traits, deeper as in low blood pressure when faced with the object of her affections.

"I think...Kakashi-kun is very strong." _no surprise there._ "A-and he is smart." _something most of our boy classmates aren't_ "Kakashi-kun is misunderstood." Rin ended her answer with such geniune conviction that I felt dumbsmacked.

I expected the words cute, lonely, something simpler.

"Misunderstood...?" I echoed, a silent invitation for her to go on.

And go on she did.

"Yes." Rin huffed, pushing her bangs out of the way. "All geniuses are. He is more mature and people who can't reach that level will always be mean and find fault where there is none."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Was young love still stupid when one felt and thought about things so deeply? I cast the dilemma aside for now, focusing on the task at hand.

"Hatake-kun's father died, Rin-san."

I didn't know why I expected her to be aware of Sakumo's death. Maybe because I did. Regardless, the tears she allowed herself to spill and the hand she brought to her mouth were proof enough that she hadn't heard of it.

And why would she, anyway? If not for my eavsdropping, I doubted my parents would have rushed to tell me the tragic news.

"A bento box might help him a little." I suggested after letting the information sink in.

Rin gasped. "You are right, Kurenai-san!" she exclaimed, wiping at her eyes furiously, embarrassed but no less determined. "Kakashi-kun is alone now, with no one to cook for him. I will do it. I will be there for him."

A smile tugged my lips upwards.

Things were changing and maybe, just maybe, I could save Team Minato from being torn apart.

* * *

Looking back, I should have taken Kakashi's intelectual sharpness more into consideration and planned accordingly. Granted, I should have also put a stop to my nightly "visits", if they could be called that.

I chose to defend my choice by concluding that one bento box from Rin couldn't possibly be enough to feed a growing child. Three meals a day was the required minimum and damn it, I wanted these cursed by fate characters to feel a little bit of warmth in a world that had been against them from the start.

Kakashi could learn how to become a highly skilled chef and I would still be feeling some sort of heroic pull. When you had no one, even the smallest act of kindness that let you know someone cared whether you starved or not meant a lot.

"Kurenai."

I would have liked telling you that five years reborn in a fictional universe wasn't enough to make me instantly perk up at somebody else's name. Alas, I can't do that. Five years is a lot and for three years my adult mind had been dormant, the child one absorbing all influences, despite my fierce refusal to admit such fact.

I lowered the package even caught in the act but didn't turn to face Kakashi.

"What gave me away?"

He didn't waste any time.

"Your chakra signature, for starters."

I grimaced. Genius indeed.

"What else?"

Kakashi was quiet for moment.

"You tried using Rin as a smokescreen of sorts, to cover your intentions, make it seem as though she has been gifting me food this entire time and only recently worked up the courage to gift some in person." he circled me. "The taste was different. Not bad, just different."

I somehow managed to maintain my calm indifference.

"I didn't use Rin. I wished to help her. And you."

"I'm not Obito, easy to manipulate."

For some reason, that remark angered me more than it ought to. I rose my hand as if to slap him. Kakashi caught my wrist, pulling me against him. He stared into my eyes, long and hard but his voice came out soft and I swear I nearly fainted.

"You are not Kurenai, are you?"

My anger, my strength, almost everything really...deserted me in an instant.

Kakashi continued, unfazed whatsoever. "I don't recall much, about my time as an Academy student. Even so, I like to think I would have remembered Kurenai going to such lenghts for me." his grip over my wrist loosened, much to my confusion.

He was confident, I mused. He was confident that he'd be able to best me no matter what.

Then I realized, quite calmly, the obvious. My rebirth wasn't the only anomaly. Kakashi Hatake had time-travelled. I was face to face with the feared Copy Cat, albeit in smaller proportions.

"I'm from another world, a world where...I got to watch you and the others cry more than smile." Now that I started talking, I found that I wouldn't, _couldn't,_ stop. Everything came spilling out of me. "I was twenty-two when I died. I used to have a different family, a job I loved, students I taught and looked after...I died and woke-up here, woke-up as someone else, someone I had known the destiny of. Obito's, yours...I witnessed everything. Suddenly, I had chakra and impossible feats, impossible to my world, were no longer impossible. I don't know what else to tell you but this is the truth and whatever kami had put me here in Kurenai's stead, whatever kami had saw fit to give you a second chance..." my voice grew stronger. "It must have been for a good reason."

Kakashi was a born sceptic and whether he believed me or not, I couldn't tell but some part of him must have made peace with the fact that Kurenai wasn't here, I was...or at least trying to do so.

"We have a lot to discuss then."

He let go of my wrist, gesturing towards his home.

I rose an eyebrow, sceptical myself.

"Just like that?"

And in natural Kakashi fashion, he picked up the package I had made for him and looked over his shoulder, giving me a closed eye smile that looked alien on his younger face.

"I have reading people's body language mastered down to an art and yours is that of a frightened rabbit." he held open the door. "If you know of me as much as you claim then you also know that chibi limbs or not, I would have killed you long ago, had you posed a threat."

Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get any crazier. A long suffering sigh escaped me, accepting the invitation.

"Why couldn't I have been reborn as a Nara instead?"

Kakashi's chuckle echoed down the hall as I trailed after him. And the loneliness I had embraced seemed to vanish in a puff of smoke.

Just like whatever sanity I thought I had.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't ask me to explain what happened this chapter because I don't know. It just wrote himself. I have been writing Naruto characters for years now and the more I do it, the more...idk how to put it, they write themselves? Like, everything just flows and flows and by the time I realize it...I just don't feel like deleting and starting from scratch again.
> 
> That being said, I didn't have Kakashi time traveling planned. Not at all. This was supposed to be just your ordinary SI-OC story. So, based on the feedback I get from you guys...I will leave this chapter the way it is and move forward with Kakashi and OC trying to fix Kishimoto's huge messes or I will take apart the chapter, wrestle Kakashi's character into submission and stick to the initial plan, updating chapter 3 again.
> 
> I can't wait to read your opinions and, in all seriousness, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I have enjoyed writing it.


	4. Chapter 4

_"Treat the man not the disease." - William Osler_

* * *

If I thought my own rebirth to be unsettling, Kakashi time travelling to the past was surreal. In the last fifteen minutes since stepping foot inside his house, I had pinched the skin on my arm for six times and was currently debating a seventh pinch when the boy... _ahem, man_ , in question broke the defeaning silence.

The legendary composure was in place. But even so, it was painfully clear Kakashi didn't know what to do with me any more than I knew what to do with him.

Still, he tried.

"Earlier you mentioned witnessing my life and my comrades' lives." he paused. "How?"

It was a sensible question. One I didn't need to panic about or scramble to for answers.

"My world is more advanced than yours. And though there are plenty of things we had yet to discover, some scientists theorized there are multiple worlds existing at the same time." I chewed the inside of my cheek, deciding to skip over the difficult parts, such as quantum physics and the like. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think of Kakashi as dumb in any way, shape or form.

But the Naruto world's laws were marginally different than what I had once considered to be absolute truth. Take gravity, for instance. How would you explain that to someone whose own hair just so happened to defy it?

Joking aside, things were already a mess. I refused to roll over and make an even bigger one.

"Imagine millions of papers, all of them standing on top of each other. Well, not exactly on top...there is a gap between them, a force that keeps them apart. The human brain is a mystery and has been suspected to possess incredible potential. Some people are gifted enough, that without even realizing it, they tap into the other worlds. Their minds connect to a different paper on a subconscious level. Fiction is said to be reality, one that exists somewhere else."

I could go on and on about how there are similar worlds, like mirrors reflecting the same thing only backwards, or slightly distorted; speak about parallel universes, how there is another version of you inside each and how different choices lead to different outcomes and thus shape several other worlds.

But that would be slightly off-topic.

Everything was already hard to take in as it was. Kakashi didn't disappoint, though.

"You read about us." he stated flatly.

_More like watched you on my laptop, but yeah._

I nodded.

Another pregnant silence followed my gesture of approval, silence during which Kakashi sat at the kitchen table, eating the bento box I had made for him.

It dawned on me then, with some sort of humoristic irony, that seeing the chibi version of him without the infamous mask lacked the thrill and wrongness that seeing his twenty and something year-old version would have surely entailed.

I still had a hard time wrapping my head around all of it. Sure, I was an artistic soul, but I also prided myself on being a logical thinker.

And though it could be argued that logic had no say in such twisted world, I begged to disagree.

There were things that simply made sense. Universally. And this one just...didn't. Why send both me and Kakashi?

Better yet, why not send Kakashi _and someone else?_ Like, the original Kurenai. Surely, a real ninja would have been the better choice.

"Thank you for the meal."

I waved a hand in dismissal.

"Nothing to thank."

When Kakashi levelled me with a piercing, serious look and set aside his chopsticks, I realized he meant business.

"What's the last thing you read about?"

The question gave me pause. I frowned as I tried to remember. Then it came to me, clear as day.

"The Second Coming of The Three-Way Deadlock."

Which, come to think of it, had been quite the optimistic place to be left in the dark about. Team Seven just reunited because Sasuke had joined the war on Sakura and Naruto' side. It was a promising twist of events. Things wouldn't go south after that...right?

I didn't know whether anyone else had died or how and when the war ended...

A horrible thought struck me then.

_Wait...if I got pulled out of my world and dropped inside this one before I got to watch any further..._

I grimaced.

"Aa." Kakashi hummed noncommitally, picking up his dirty plate and going over to the sink. "Cute, ferocious students I've got, wouldn't you say so?"

The Copy Cat's choice of words and their meaning didn't escape my notice. He said _i have_ where there should have been a _had._

I wondered if the prospect of change, of never having Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto under his tutelage again, saddened him.

Maybe it hadn't even crossed his mind.

_Or, he'd always think of them as his students, regardless of what happens next._

"That's one way of putting it." I retorted. "What's the last thing that _you,_ remember?"

Kakashi washed his plate, silent. Once that was taken care of, he didn't move; back hunched over the kitchen sink.

"I was fighting Obito. I used the Sharingan..." he shook his head. "This is ridiculous."

The sudden anger in his voice surprised me.

"When I confronted you, earlier, I..." Kakashi turned to face me then, jaw clenched. "I was still hoping Obito had caught me inside some elaborate genjutsu; to torture me with the past. There were many things that didn't add up, of course. Him ignoring Rin, befriending Anko and you. Kurenai looking after me..." another shake of his head. "The fact that I woke-up only _after_ my father had killed himself, thus leaving me unable to stop him...that part just had to be for the sake of torture."

The gods were cruel, indeed.

"You are not stuck in a genjutsu."

He nodded, slightly calmer than earlier.

"I know. Everything you told me...Obito or anyone else really, myself included, wouldn't have been capable of making it up."

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, stunned that I had just witnessed one of my favorite characters on the brink of having a mental breakdown. Though to be fair, a young body meant little tolerance for stress and powerful emotions. Considering how Kakashi had suffered years of trauma and was emotionally scarred beyond belief...

"So, where does that leave us?"

Kakashi mustn't have expected my question because he blinked, watching me thoughtfully for a few moments.

"I belong to the Leaf. Always had, always will. But _you...you_ have no such obligations."

He was suggesting I never try taking on the path that the original Kurenai had, that unlike him, I had a choice.

Did I, really? Was I dumped here to be ordinary? Ordinary was, of course, the wise choice, the safe one.

It felt _wrong_ for all the reasons it should have felt have _right._

Genin. The least I could do was become genin. Maybe even sign up for the Chunin Exams, fail and never strive to achieve more. I'd be considered extraordinary by my world's standards and a tad better than this world's version of ordinary.

There was, of course, the 'ripples' issue. Even a pawn such as Kurenai Yuhi was important, if placed correctly and used just right.

I refused to be the reason my favorite anime went to hell.

"I made a promise to Obito. I can't just go back on my word." I said, straightening up. "I _will_ become a shinobi."

There was that, also. I rarely gave my word to people, mostly because I hated the whole concept. But if I was somehow coaxed into doing it...

I'd sooner lose a limb before I broke it.

Kakashi's eyes softened a bit. Had I not been paying close attention, I would have missed it.

"What?"

He waved a hand in dismissal.

"Maa, it's nothing. You just reminded me of someone dear."

My own eyes softened at that.

_Naruto._

I clenched a fist. "He won't grow-up lonely. Not this time around."

His determined gaze met mine.

"No, he won't."

It was the start of something powerful. Terrifying. Something that was bound to change me forever.

* * *

Kakashi and I had yet to come up with a solid strategy. Just because we shared the same fate that didn't mean we were suddenly Strike Team Delta or something equally potent.

We didn't trust each other for that.

Not that we feared turning our backs and getting stabbed. No. Kakashi had too much faith in his skills (as he should) while my ability to sense danger simply remained inactive whenever he was near.

There were many kinds of trust.

I didn't trust him to be mentally stable. He didn't trust me to become half the kunoichi Kurenai had been. Which was why I had my nose buried in genjutsu books half the time while he...

Well, he couldn't exactly seek out a therapist without putting all of Konohagakure on alert. And even if he could, I doubted he would. Kakashi avoided the hospital like the plague whenever he got injured. It didn't take a genius to conclude he guarded the insides of his mind even more ferociously.

Only someone incredibly sane or terribly mad would be capable of playing games with people's psyches like he did on a daily basis.

"You can talk to me, you know."

Kakashi didn't bother to grace me with a response.

For all of his maturity, Anko and Obito were easier to deal with. They hadn't learned how to put their emotions under lock and key yet.

Half of me prayed they never would. The other half knew better than that.

"I'm sorry, you were saying?"

My jaw dropped.

I understood Gai now. Being on the recieving end of that line wasn't fun. I was no longer giggling or smiling like an idiot.

I was pissed off. And the smirk he gave me after finishing his last round of pushups? It was the icing on the cake. Had I been anyone else, I would have screamed profanities.

As it was, I merely tightened the grip I had on the scroll I was holding and repeated myself.

"Your feelings." I said. "You can talk to me. Get them off your chest."

Kakashi leaned against a tree, facing me from across the clearing. The distance between us baffled me. We had stood closer on the day he found out I wasn't Kurenai.

"Why?"

I drew backwards, trying to make sense of his question.

He spared my troubled braincells and continued. "You already know all there is to know about my life and everyone else's, don't you?"

Suddenly, everything made sense. God, how could I have been so dense? No wonder he looked bothered. I lowered down the scroll, rolling and closing it.

Genjutsu could wait.

"I know facts, yes." I began in a soft voice, just so he'd have to strain to hear me and inch closer. I didn't like raising my voice and we were both reasonable adults.

Or at least we ought to be.

"I know you blame yourself for what had become of Obito. I know the guilt of killing Rin still haunts you." It mustn't be easy, listening to me name his deepest regrets, but it had to be done. "You feel responsible for Lord Minato and Lady Kushina's deaths and you hate yourself for not taking care of Naruto when he needed you the most. And Sasuke...despite your best attempts, he still left and embraced darkness." I paused, noticing him flinch with every spoken 'failure.' "I know what happened and I have a general idea of your personality. But no book in this world will ever reveal to me more about you than yourself. I don't know you, Kakashi. I know _of_ you, yes. But I don't _know you._ "

I raised my shoulders in a hopeful manner, giving him a tiny, reluctant smile. "I'd like to, though."

How long we stood there, merely staring at each other, I couldn't tell, but I didn't mind. Not particularly. Bigger than my desire to get along with Kakashi was my desire to live and change something for the better.

I knew he shared the sentiment, otherwise he wouldn't be busy training from dusk till dawn and humoring the notion of training _me_ , also.

To work together properly, we had to trust one another. There was no saving people, saving the future without trust. And it shouldn't, it _couldn't_ be postponed.

"You were right. Guilt is my primary emotion." Kakashi admitted from behind me.

_When the hell did he get here?_

"And you need to get some sensory training done." he let me know in a no nonsense voice.

"I do not!" I argued with a scowl, resembling a five-year-old for once, much to my later embarrassement.

Kakashi arched a brow.

"Oh?" he gave me a pointed look in return for my trouble. "Then why was I able to sneak upon you if your sensory ability is as great as you claim?"

"That's easy." I retorted, puffing out my cheeks. "I just don't consider you to be a threat."

His eyebrows narrowed.

"You don't consider me to be a threat?"

I nodded before quickly realizing how that might have sounded. I rose my hands in a placate gesture, rushing to explain. "Not that you don't possess the neccesary skills to be one. But I'm familiar with you and your chakra signature. You wouldn't harm me, not intentionally, not in a vindictive way. Foreign chakra signatures don't get past my radar that easily, I assure you."

Kakashi held my gaze for awhile longer before plopping down beside me

"Your turn to do one hundred pushups then."

A small chuckle escaped me.

"What are you, Gai?"

He picked up the discarded genjutsu scroll, studying it. "No, but I can always get him to join us and monitor your progress."

I paled at that but still protested.

"I can't do one hundred pushups!"

Kakashi nodded, seemingly considering my complaint.

"You are right. One hundred pushups is unfair to you."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do one hundred fifty."

_WHAT? He...he can't be serious._

My left eye twitched.

"Is this because I dared to ask you about your feelings?"

Kakashi looked up then.

"One hundred seventy pushups and still counting, if that's how you want to be."

I rose from the grass and glared at him.

"Fine. Be your emotionally ambiguous self and suffer in silence. See if I care."

Before I could walk away, a hand on my wrist tugged me backwards. I turned around to face the former Copy Cat.

"We all need to start somewhere." he intoned meaningfully. "Stop at fifty." Kakashi let go of my hand and returned to studying the scroll.

I realized what he had meant as I was walking down the hill and getting into position. The fact that I even got him to admit his guilt outloud was a win, the first step of many to come.

Hopefully.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

_"United we stand, divided we fall." - John Dickinson_

* * *

"Soo, do you have something you want to tell us?" Anko asked, watching me expectantly.

I narrowed my eyebrows at her, puzzled. "If I did, I would have told you."

Soon it was Obito's turn to try and grill me for information. He got in my face "Would you, really?"

My desk was full of scrolls on genjutsu. I did not have time for their sheningans...or whatever mambo jumbo ran through their heads these days.

"Yes." I replied without hesistation before lowering down the scroll I was currently reading, nearly bumping noses with the young Uchiha. "Now what is this is about?"

Obito scrambled backwards at the speed of light, a cute shade of pink colouring his cheeks.

I hid a bemused smile.

Anko took his place on top of my desk, nearly knocking down the quill and making a mess out of everything. I knew she wasn't that clumsy and glared at her. She returned that glare with a charming smile that on her older face would have charmed the pants off men and women alike.

"You hate work." she stated without prealamble, the smile gone from her features in an instant. "You are one of the laziest people I know."

Were all six-year-olds supposed to be this nosy?

"True and true." I resumed my reading.

Anko kept it up, unwilling to let things go. Some days I felt like strangling her, truth be told.

"Genjutsu is, after sealing and medical ninjutsu, considered to be the hardest ninja art. It is difficult to grasp in general for those without special eyes..."

"Like my Sharingan." Obito added.

"Which you don't have." Anko retorted.

"Yet." the former argued.

Wary of another monumental sized argument breaking out between the two of them – I knew how sensitive the subject was to Obito – I decided to make myself clear.

_Or as clear as_ _my current circumstances allow me to be._

"Genjutsu is difficult, yes, but compared to the other arts that need constant honing or, in ninjutsu's case, lots of chakra..." I paused. "This will allow me to be a ghost. Minimal risk of sustaining injuries. I could attack people without them ever noticing me. Ninjutsu and taijutsu require more...brawn."

I arched a brow. "You understand what I'm saying?"

They nodded, though Obito looked to be deep in thought still.

"What if you don't spot all the enemies? Or what if one escapes your genjutsu early?"

I opened my mouth, prepared to answer and cease his worries, but Anko beat me to it.

"I'm sure Hatake will be nearby to protect her."

_Wait what_

My brain stopped working for a moment. Obito seemed to share the sentiment because his eyes widened and he bristled.

"Bakashi cares only for himself, Anko."

"He has been spending lots of time with Kure-chan and you know it too. You complain about i–" the young boy covered her mouth with his hand.

Obito laughed nervously. "I don't know what she is talking– OW!" he pulled his hand back, face scrunched up in pain. "You bit me."

"And you were being a stupid chicken." Anko spat out.

"Were not."

"Were to."

"Were NOT."

"Were TO."

"Were–..."

I hit the desk with my fist.

"That's enough." I watched Obito look away dejectedly and Anko's eyes widen a fraction. I never rose my voice. Their reaction was completely justified.

As was mine.

"Kakashi is a..." I stopped to consider it. What could I even call him? A favourite character? Reluctant ally? The company to my misery? "He is our classmate." here, Obito coughed, mumbling 'former'. I ignored him and continued. "Have I been spending time with him lately? Yes. Is he more mature than you two at your best? Definitely."

My hardened gaze melted away. "But that doesn't mean I'm replacing you with him. That's not how friendship works."

Anko was refusing to look me in the eye. In contrast, Obito met my gaze bravely. "Do you promise?"

God. How I hated making promises. My hatred for those ran deeply enough that I never had anyone promise me anything. Sans my father, but he...

He was the reason I hated promises in the first place. Those were made to be broken. It was a stupid irony. And yet...this promise was easy enough to keep. I didn't believe in replacing people. Each and every bond was unique. Just like there were no two people alike.

"I promise."

It occurred to me then that Obito had made me give my word to him not once, but twice in the span of three years.

_This is where I draw the line._

He seemed satisified with my response because his mouth stretched into a huge grin. "We will leave you to read then."

My left eye twitched.

Arguing could have been easily avoided if the two were upfront about it. I leaned back into the chair, knowing I couldn't blame them... _much._ People of all ages had a hard time telling what truly bothered them. Passive-aggressiveness was highly popular.

"Anko." I called out to the purple-haired girl. She lifted her chin up to reveal a similar grin to that of Obito's.

"I knew you'd never leave us for silver hair, Kurenai." she winked at me. "Just wanted to hear you say it."

I laughed while Obito snorted in disbelief. "Yeah right, you were just as worried as I w–..." Anko interrupted him by covering his mouth with her hand.

"Uchiha is dumb, don't mind him."

She must have suspected Obito trying to get even because she let go of his mouth and shoved him forward.

"I'm not dumb, you are just..."

I rose up a hand.

"Don't start, please. We are all dumb. How about that?"

"NO!" they replied in unison, leaving me speechless.

"You aren't dumb, Kure-chan..."

"Yes, that title is reserved for Obito..."

I shook my head. At least they were finally agreeing on something.

* * *

There were insane people, I thought to myself one particularly lazy morning. The haze of sleep was still strong, but I had just been forced awake, a scowl ever present on my features.

And then there was Kakashi Hatake, in a league of his own.

"Go away." I whined before picking up the closest object in vicinity - a fluffy ladybug Obito had given me for my birthday- and throwing it blindly.

It didn't hit its intended target, of course. I doubted I could have gotten it to, even out of bed and fully alert.

"No can do." Kakashi let me know in the most annoying voice ever. What had crawled up his butt last night to make him do this?

Scratch that...did he even sleep at all?

I wasn't sure if I wanted an answer to that question so, I whined a little bit more. Hopefully he'd get the hint and just _leav_ _e_ already. There were boundaries. _Boundaries._

It occurred to me, that while I was trying to push my way inside Kakashi's tormented soul, he had decided something similar...concerning my living quarters, my routine.

"Fine, I will bite." A long suffering sigh escaped me as I rolled over and gave him a pointed if a little murderous look from where he stood perched on my windowsill. "Why are you here?"

The 'what could have possibly possessed you to wake me up at ungodly hours on the weekend?' was heavily implied but remained unspoken.

"First of all, congratulations on releasing killer intent. The sooner you get used to it, the better."

_It's too early for this..._

"And second of all?" I rubbed at my eyes tiredly, the meaning of his words and what that actually meant for me not sinking in just yet.

Kakashi deadpanned.

"You don't train on the weekends." he said, more like a fact than a question. "We are changing that starting today"

_Wait, we? That's rich._

I stood upright, suddenly more anchored in this reality. "I don't remember being asked and agreeing to it."

The former Copy-Cat titled his head to the side. "Right. Let me rephrase that..."

Why did I get the feeling the second version would be significantly worse than the first?

 _"I'm_ changing it."

_Go figures._

"And why, pray tell, do you feel the need to do that?"

I was seriously starting to consider the notion of Kakashi being allergic to the word 'feelings' and all possible variations because his usually apathetic look seemed a little strained.

"I think..." he put emphasis on the verb. "...you should get some training done on the weekends, too. Now that I've graduated, I won't have as much free time on my hands during the week."

_Oh._

_Right._

It made sense when he put it like that. I leaned against the bed's headboard, contemplating hitting my head against it. Just because I could see where Kakashi was coming from...that didn't mean I was thrilled. Weekend days were _me_ time.

I needed them to be free of all complications to remain sane.

_But he is right. You know he is._

My rationality won at last and I left the bed, stretching my arms. "Don't just stand there." I chided the silver-haired genin. "Come inside and wait in the living room while I do my thing and get ready."

God, I really hoped Kakashi wouldn't turn this into a habit. The last thing I wanted were noisy neighbours letting my dad know they saw a boy standing on his daughter's window.

Perhaps Shinku would let it slide until we got old enough for it to actually stand a chance at _meaning_ what overprotective fathers thought upon hearing boys and daughters in the same sentence.

"Don't fall asleep again." Kakashi said after I led the way towards the living room. I mumbled an "hai, hai." over my shoulder before returning to my room.

~.~

It was noon and my body ached all over. Taijutsu day _sucked._ Wait, no. Let me rephrase that.

Taijutsu day with _Kakashi,_ sucked. Time travel or no, I imagined he had been capable of kicking serious butt the first time around as a six-year-old genin. Add his years of experience and knowledge into the mix and what do you get?

Me, you get me. Me on the ground, bruised, battered and bleeding. Though to be fair, Kakashi didn't even hit me. All our sparring sessions had gone like this:

Person A moves to attack.

Person B evades them.

Person A falls, trips over their own feet, curses under their breath...perfectly normal stuff.

I'm Person A and I was beginning to hate taijutsu.

"You know, most people who struggle with this ninja art usually do so because they think too much." Kakashi kneeled to my level. "Taijutsu is about seventy-seven percent muscle memory. You keep practicing until your body develops the instinct to evade and block. Until the attacks spring out of you naturally."

I looked up at him.

"What about the rest of twenty-three percent?"

"That's up to people to rely on whatever is that works for them. Reading your opponant, analyzing how they move is fairly common. Being unpredictable is another. You can achieve that by using the Substitution jutsu, clones. Anything goes when your life is at risk."

He moved behind me, gripped my shoulders and hauled my body into a sitting position.

I groaned weakly.

"Do you know why I was able to graduate this quickly the first time around also?"

I'd be an idiot to mention Sakumo. So, I merely put my hands over my knees, trying to catch my breath.

"Talent and self-discipline?"

He let go of me, took a step back.

"In part. But that isn't the point." Kakashi paused. "Outside from meeting The Ninja Academy's requirements for graduation...I trained and learned enough to surpass them. You are going to tackle genin level taijutsu on top of what you are already practicing."

_Great._

I didn't even have the motivation for the current one.

"Gai will take over next time."

My head whipped around so fast I nearly snapped my own neck. "You can't be serious."

"I am."

Just imagining the intense training Gai would put me under made me want to run for the hills (which come to think of it, I might just end up doing.) That kid had a thing for laps around the village.

"But _why?"_

Kakashi himself was no slouch. Travelling to the past had done something to his teaching skills, or better said...his motivation to teach had gone very high up. Personally, I thought he still felt guilty about refusing to train Naruto and Sakura properly, overlooking them in favour of the prodigy he saw himself in.

Sasuke was another can of worms entirely, though. So, since I was clearly not emotionally stumped, bent on hatred and revenge...

That was the next best thing.

"It's more efficient this way. Having a day for every discipline. For taijutsu, Gai is the better teacher. We will handle ninjutsu and genjutsu together. And I trust Anko to teach you about poisons and tracking once she gets an interest in them."

I frowned, hating what Kakashi had implied with that last sentence. "So, we are letting her fall prey to Orochimaru."

He avoided facing me. "Some things must happen as they did last time, Kurenai."

_Kurenai?_

My eyes widened in disbelief. It was the first time Kakashi addressed me as that. It felt a little weird since unlike the rest of the people who used that name, he knew I was an impostor.

Now wasn't the right time for going through an identity crisis, however. So, I banished the thought and focused on more important matters.

Of course I understood the logic behind Kakashi's reasoning. Going up against one of the Legendary Sannin at our current level would be plain suicide. The Sandaime wouldn't throw his prized student under the bus like that. It'd be our word against Orochimaru's...whose reputation was something to behold at this point in time. He had yet to taint it. To Konoha, he was a genius, pupil to the man that had sworn to defend them with soul and limb.

A war hero.

We'd need proof to back up our words. And to find proof...we'd have to sneak behind his back.

I shuddered. So many things could go wrong that it wasn't even worth taking into consideration.

What's more, Anko needed to train under Orochimaru to become the tokubetsu jonin Kakashi and I knew. Yamato too, had to be his experiment. Wood Release was too powerful to pass out on.

 _Especially_ if things happened to go south, Obito still turned evil and Naruto's parents died as a result.

_God. What a headache._

I let myself slouch against the nearest tree, thinking. If we had any hope of achieving something big before Kakashi's rank went up higher than genin or even chunin...

We needed an old ally.

And not just in mind.

* * *

If not for what we were about to do next – better said, _to discuss_ _–_ I would have been overjoyed by the prospect of meeting Tsunade in the flesh. As it was, 'nervous' wouldn't do the current torrent of emotions inside me, justice.

A glance to my left let me know Kakashi himself hadn't chickened out and vanished like he was so fond of doing.

_Probably doesn't have the chakra to pull off that kind of trick._

The thought of him doing so anyway only to end up in the hospital under Tsunade's care made my lips twitch.

"We should probably go inside." I nudged him with my elbow. Truth be told, I didn't know who I was trying to convince.

Kakashi let out a low hum of agreement.

"Aa."

For the next five minutes, we remained still, as though we had somehow managed to grow roots in the backyard of Konoha's Hospital.

"She is probably too busy to see us, anyway." I shuffled my feet, watching the dust as it rose up and made itself visible.

Kakashi made another sound of approval.

He seemed to do that a lot lately.

"Tsunade-sama is the best medic-nin there is."

Silence wrapped around us like a blanket, one we had both agreed out on. It wasn't uncomfortable. Not like all our other silences had been. Alas, we couldn't just keep on ignoring the elephant in the room.

"I think we–"

"Hai, I do so too–"

I laughed.

"Oh come on, how hard could this possibly be?"

Kakashi threw me a look.

"Do you want me to give you the kids version?"

And suddenly, I didn't feel like laughing any more.

"Let's just get this over with."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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